Immobilization of Cadmium by Molecular Sieve and Wollastonite Is Soil pH and Organic Matter Dependent

The excessive cadmium (Cd) concentration in agricultural products has become a major public concern in China in recent years. In this study, two amendments, 4A molecular sieve (MS) and wollastonite (WS), were evaluated for their potential passivation in reducing Cd uptake by amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.) in six soils with different properties. Results showed that the responses of amaranth biomass to these amendments were soil-property-dependent. The effects of MS and WS on soil available Cd were in turn dependent on soil and amendment properties. The application of WS and MS at a dose of 660 mg·kg−1 Si produced the optimum effect on inhibiting Cd accumulation in amaranth shoots (36% and 34%, respectively) and did not affect crop yield. This was predominantly attributed to the marked increase in pH and exogenous Ca or Na, which facilitated the adsorption, precipitation, and complexation of Cd in soils. The immobilization effects of WS and MS were dependent on soil properties, where soil organic matter may have played an important role. In conclusion, MS and WS possess great potential for the remediation of Cd-contaminated acidic soils

Rat Genome Database (RGD): mapping disease onto the genome

The Rat Genome Database (RGD, http://rgd.mcw.edu) is an NIH-funded project whose stated mission is ‘to collect, consolidate and integrate data generated from ongoing rat genetic and genomic research efforts and make these data widely available to the scientific community’. In a collaboration between the Bioinformatics Research Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin, the Jackson Laboratory and the National Center for Biotechnology Information, RGD has been created to meet these stated aims. The rat is uniquely suited to its role as a model of human disease and the primary focus of RGD is to aid researchers in their study of the rat and in applying their results to studies in a wider context. In support of this we have integrated a large amount of rat genetic and genomic resources in RGD and these are constantly being expanded through ongoing literature and bulk dataset curation. RGD version 2.0, released in June 2001, includes curated data on rat genes, quantitative trait loci (QTL), microsatellite markers and rat strains used in genetic and genomic research. VCMap, a dynamic sequence-based homology tool was introduced, and allows researchers of rat, mouse and human to view mapped genes and sequences and their locations in the other two organisms, an essential tool for comparative genomics. In addition, RGD provides tools for gene prediction, radiation hybrid mapping, polymorphic marker selection and more. Future developments will include the introduction of disease-based curation expanding the curated information to cover popular disease systems studied in the rat. This will be integrated with the emerging rat genomic sequence and annotation pipelines to provide a high-quality disease-centric resource, applicable to human and mouse via comparative tools such as VCMap. RGD has a defined community outreach focus with a Visiting Scientist program and the Rat Community Forum, a web-based forum for rat researchers and others interested in using the rat as an experimental model. Thus, RGD is not only a valuable resource for those working with the rat but also for researchers in other model organisms wishing to harness the existing genetic and physiological data available in the rat to complement their own work